Internet usage has been increasing at a staggering rate. In June, 1998, Matrix Information and Directory Services (MIDS) reported that 102 million people around the world were accessing the Internet. That compares to MIDS' estimate of 57 million in January, 1997, and an estimate of 707 million worldwide Internet users by 2001. Many of these Internet users are World-Wide Web surfers who use the Web to obtain information, watch video clips, or make on-line purchases, for example. Another primary use of the Internet is for electronic mail (e-mail). E-mail provides a convenient medium for exchanging primarily textual communications.
More recently, the Internet has been used for voice communication. Internet telephony is one example of packet-switched telephony. In packet-switched telephony, a packet-switched network, such as the Internet, serves as a transportation medium for packets carrying voice data. Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) is one example of a collection of standards and protocols used to support voice communications over packet-switched networks such as the Internet. Others have been developed as well. A common Internet telephony scheme involves a computer or other device that is capable of connecting to the Internet. A gateway from the Internet to the Public-Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) allows a user of the computer to communicate through the Internet and PSTN to a telephone subscriber at a telephone connected to the PSTN. Other configurations are also possible.
Numerous benefits may be realized through the use of packet-switched telephony. For example, calls may be less expensive because of the utilization of a packet-switched network, such as the Internet, to traverse distances around the world. This is in contrast to conventional telephone service, which typically involves tying up telephone circuits to connect calls. Thus, a user in one location may communicate with a telephone subscriber at a second location by transmitting voice data across the Internet to a gateway that is located near a telephone subscriber's location, in order to avoid paying long distance fees that might otherwise be associated with making such a call. Another possible advantage of packet-switched telephony service is the convenient interfaces and features that may be offered in a packet-switched telephony system. For example, volume control, a video session, or an address book application may be implemented. Many Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs) have been formed in order to provide these services. Examples of ITSPs include Net2Phone, DialPad, Maxcall, AccessPower, and others. Each ITSP generally has its own calling rate and fee structure and may require a download of proprietary software. Additionally, there may be restrictions on the types of calls placed, such as restrictions on call origin or destination, or on the time of day the call is placed.
A user is therefore presented with a choice as to which ITSP to select for making an Internet telephony call. (A similar choice would likely be presented in any packet-switched telephony system). If a user wishes to minimize costs, he or she may select an ITSP that costs the least amount of money per unit time for the anticipated call duration. This typically requires the user to access service attributes for each of the ITSPs in order to determine which of them is the least costly. For example, a user may access one or more ITSP web sites to determine the calling rate to a desired call destination for a desired call duration. Such a process can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Similarly, the user may wish to use the ITSP that offers the best Quality of Service (QoS) for a given Internet telephony call. Here again, the user would likely be required to obtain information, such as Service Level Agreement (SLA) information, pertaining to one or more ITSPs. This would again involve spending time searching for, as well as possibly recording, the respective service attributes for each of the queried ITSPs, in order to preserve the findings for future reference. If service attributes change, recorded attributes may be inaccurate.
There is, therefore, a need for an efficient system and method for identifying available packet-switched telephony service providers, such as an ITSPs. Such a means should be efficient and easy to use, and should provide information on service providers to enable a user to make a decision as to which service provider to use for a call.
It would also be desirable for a system for identifying available packet-switched telephony service providers to be implemented on a packet-switched network, such as the Internet.
Another desirable feature would be for a computer or other user device to display an address book interface through which a user could select an address book entry corresponding to a telephone subscriber, thereby initiating a procedure in which service attributes for a number of packet-switched telephony service providers are obtained and presented to the user, preferably ranked according to a ranking scheme. A further desirable feature would be for a server-based system, such as a website, to provide an on-line address book application, through which users could store contact information as one or more address book entries and obtain service provider information for calls placed to selected contact entries.
It would also be desirable for a user to be able to enter a telephone number or location description into a query field to obtain a listing of packet-switched telephony service providers providing service to the entered phone number or location description.
It would also be desirable for such a system to initiate a call through a highest-ranked packet-switched telephony service provider according to a ranking scheme.
An additional useful feature would be for the user to have the ability to identify businesses or other location-specific information located near a specified location or telephone number. It would also be desirable to provide a system through which a user could enter a telephone number in an on-line form, such as a webpage form, after which information associated with the location corresponding to the telephone number would be provided.